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Second court ruling to favour CiF's contracting of beachside concessions

Platja Es Pujols PremsaThe administrative litigation chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) rejected an appeal that questioned the Formentera Council's handling of a 2013 request for bids at beachside concessions. The appeal took issue with the second court of Palma's decision to uphold a 14 June 2013 CiF plenary session accord not to grant concessionary rights for two lots (24 and 26) included in a call for bids for summer concessionaires for the 2013-2020 period.

As Àngel Navarro – general secretary of the Formentera Council – said, that decision, made by the second court of Palma 22 September of last year, can henceforth no longer be appealed. Explained the secretary: «The TSJIB dismissed the appeal of the second court of Palma's 15 December 2014 ruling (number 370), which found that the Council had acted correctly».

The president of the administrative litigation chamber, Fiol Gomila, who issued the sentence, indicated that the rejection of the bids for lots 24 and 26 were indeed founded. In Navarro's words, the CiF's decision was based on «the bidder's failure to demonstrate financial solvency» and the fact that «his offer was not the most profitable». Today's ruling establishes the correctness of action taken by the Formentera Council in its request for tender of the coastline lots and declares payment of legal costs «responsibility of the plaintiff».

Ver el verso showcases poetry and paintings

Expo Ana Celada«Ver el verso» is a culling of work by Ana Celada currently open to the public at the exhibition space of the Ajuntament de Sant Francesc. The series of acrylic compositions showcases the artist's two passions: painting and poetry. Ms Celada, who has called Formentera home for just under a year, finds her inspiration locally. Indeed, the protagonist in each of her four large format paintings is a familiar sight: a jellyfish. The exhibition will close on 24 October, but until then it can be visited Monday through Friday from 10 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 7:30 pm.

Last cruiseship of summer casts anchor away from protected seagrass

Creuer i es vedra premsaDaisee Aguilera, councillor of environment to the Formentera Council, announced her satisfaction today at «having successfully found a middle ground between cruiseship tourism and protection of posidonia seagrass». The day was marked by the arrival of the cruiseliner Hamburg, the last this summer to make a stop-over in Formentera. The ship's crew cast anchor at a distance from the posidònia oceànica prairie located in zone two of the la Savina port. Plans had originally posited zone two as the anchorage site for all the cruiseships stopping in Formentera.

Friday 10 July, Formentera Council (CiF) officials issued letters to the Balearic port authority and maritime authority, proposing alternatives to the system that had tourist passenger ships dropping anchor on the nearby seagrass field. The CiF recommended the ships anchor in an area forty metres deep one mile northwest of the prairie, free from posidonia.

Councillor Aguilera, who thanked the two agencies as well as trip organisers and ship captains, noted the maritime authority's collaboration authorising anchorage outside of the traditional port zone. She also gave thanks to Pitiusa de Ecologia, a group appointed by the Govern Balear to assist crews in anchor drops, «for their role in reducing harmful incursions on the posidonia fields, which have been recognised as world heritage sites by Unesco».

The Council took action after a cruiseship dropped anchor in la Savina's zone two at the beginning of July, causing damage to the protected species of seagrass. The councillor of the environment, highlighting the success of this year's changes, expressed her hope that in the coming years the system can be maintained. 

Palma govt to open housing office at site of former Govern delegation

Rp visita conseller de TerritoriFormentera's councillor of town and country planning, Alejandra Ferrer, met today with her opposite number in the Govern Balear, Joan Boned, for a gathering that resulted in an agreement to use the former site of the Govern's Formentera delegation as a local office providing Formentera residents with assistance on housing. Staffed by both CiF and Govern employees, the office — whose ultimate structure will become clear between now and its 2016 opening — will counsel local Formenterencs on housing issues, Councillor Boned explained.

The two officials also discussed the possibility of creating a register in order to bring together homeseekers and property-owners. Another prospect envisioned is that the future housing office compile different government subsidies from both the local and regional administrations and in so doing — says Councillor Ferrer — «incentivise the decision to rent». An upcoming meeting of the Consell d'Entitats will serve to debate such issues.

Redrawing coastal boundaries
Mr Boned declared the new division of public and private land along Formentera's coastline to be «unacceptable» because «it runs counter to a previous consensus reached by the island as a whole». According to the Govern councillor, «private property which was lost under the contested coastal law should indeed be returned to its rightful owners, but protective measures along the coastline must remain in place». The Palma administration has assured it will study the issue to determine how it can intervene effectively.

Officials gather to tackle zoning
On his visit, Mr Boned will meet with members of the Formentera Council, the local ajuntament and other urbanism professionals and go over the Govern Balear's current plan for zoning regulations. The code of regulations — says Mr Boned — aims to consolidate and simplify the different mechanisms, concepts and parameters used by town councils when tackling zoning issues.

Formentera asks Govern to foot bill on waste transfer to Eivissa

Planta de TransferenciaIn a letter sent yesterday, Formentera Council president Jaume Ferrer reached out to Francina Armengol, president of the Govern Balear, requesting that «the executive authority of the Balearic government assume the full cost of waste transfer from the Formentera transfer station to the treatment centre in Eivissa, Ca Na Putxa». The annual cost of transfer, as is noted in accompanying documentation, does not exceed one million euros.

In his communication with Armengol, the CiF president points out that «this matter is beyond the purview of the island councils and requires action on the part of the autonomous government». In fact, Ferrer argues, the Govern's payment of Formentera-to-Eivissa waste transfer is a determining factor in «assuring the parity and cohesion of the different Balearic islands» and hence, he asserts, falls within the duty of the Palma government. Ferrer also notes that, pursuant to article 138.1 of the Spanish constitution, Madrid offers subsidies to defray rubbish transfer costs.

According to the CiF president, in order to ensure fairness between the respective budgets of Formentera, Eivissa, Menorca and Mallorca, the Govern Balear is under the obligation to assume these costs. «The fact that we're paying this additional cost is due to the greater distance that separates the point of waste production and the point where that waste is taken to be treated. That distinguishing characteristic – our location – creates the need for waste transfer and the resulting added expense». Ferrer concludes by noting that every other island in the archipelago is equipped with its own waste treatment centre.

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